Here are three things I think everyone
 should know about interior painting:

  1. Wall crack repair made simple.
  2. Using trouble free paint.
  3. Smooth finishes on wood trim.

Wall crack repair made simple

Three basic situations exist - 

1. hairline cracks
2. larger cracks
3. corner cracks


1. For hairline cracks, just use a 3" roller 
   to apply three coats of an elastic membrame.
   I prefer Peel Stop, which is Zinsser product,
   available just about everywhere.  A roller is
   better than a brush, since brush marks will show 
   through the finish rolled coat of wall paint.

2. For harsher cracks, open the crack up a bit and 
   fill it with an acrylic/silica patching compound.  
   Several companies offer this, including Sherwin 
   Williams, Benjamin Moore and DAP.  The product is 
   generally called an interior/exterior shrink-free 
   spackle.  It will shrink just a little though, so 
   plan on two applications.  Over this, apply your 
   three coats of the Peel Stop.

   The spackle can almost always be troweled over
   cracks in such a manner as to require no sanding.
   But sometimes, for larger repairs, a light sanding
   is needed.  Wait several hours and use 180 grit or
   finer.

   This type of crack repair will outlast repairs made
   using paper or fiberglass tape and joint compound.
   In fact, the crack will probably never reopen.  It 
   will also save hours or days of needless labor and
   will eliminate the sanding dust problem.

   For the ultimate long lasting repair, prime the 
   interior of the crack, then trowel PL-400
   construction adhesive into the crack before applying 
   the patching compound.  Wipe it smooth with your finger
   and apply the spackle or joint compund at any time.

3. Cracks in corners should just be caulked and given
   a good finger wipe.

Use Benjamin Moore Regal finishes

Make life easy for yourself.  Your time and energy are
worth much more than the difference in cost between 
inferior paint and the Regal line of paints.

The Regal line comes in four finishes, and all are
water-borne, high hiding and scrubbable:

1. Flat.  This is also called Wall Satin on the label,
   but is a dead flat finish.  For this reason, it 
   touches up better than any other paint I've used.

2. Eggshell.  This is also called AquaVelvet on the label.
   Has a slight angular sheen.  Suitable for almost any
   room, provided there is not a strong light source shining
   at a steep angle across the wall, such as from corner 
   windows or wall lamps with bright bulbs.

   When rolling this product on the wall, always take your
   final roller strokes in the same direction, going in a
   continuous motion from ceiling to floor.  Not only is it
   important to keep the direction of motion the same, but 
   you must also keep the roller oriented in the same position.
   That is, you must not flip it end for end.  You must also
   work quickly and efficiently as you roll.  Rolling over
   even slightly tacky paint will cause sheen problems.
   The same applies to the two finishes below.

3. Pearl.  Called AquaPearl.  A step up in sheen from the
   eggshell.  Great for bathrooms and kitchens.

4. Semi-gloss.  Called AquaGlo.  Would be okay for wood trim,
   except that it will show brush marks, especially if applied 
   by anyone who is not a top notch applicator.


Benjamin Moore paints come in over 3,000 colors.

Smooth Finishes on Wood Trim

   For a quality wood trim finish, you'll need to use
   an oil enamel, or better yet, for a perfectly smooth
   finish, try this do-it-yourself water-born enamel:

   1-2-3, an all purpose primer from Zinnser, makes the
   best interior eggshell enamel finish I've used.  It
   has yet to produce any brush application marks.  To
   increase the sheen level, mix in a small amount of
   Minwax gloss clear polycrylic.  Poly stands for 
   polyurethane, and it's best to keep the urethane content 
   to a minumum for future recoating considerations.  
   This is why one should use only the gloss version for 
   increasing sheen - less is required.

   The only water-born pure acrylic clear finish I know
   of is one made locally here in Minnesota, by Hirshfields.
   It is called Clearcoat, and is my preferred additive.
   It can also be applied as a clear finish over the 1-2-3.
   My favorite method though, is to just use the 1-2-3 as
   it is.  It's eggshell finish is quite slick and hard.

   Adding just three drops of interior red colorant and 
   about ten drops of interior yellow colorant per gallon 
   to the 1-2-3 will give you a beautiful warm white.

   I've found that the deep base 1-2-3 does not provide
   a smooth finish, much to my surprise.

   Prior to enameling, get rid of any existing old latex 
   brush marks by hand sanding with 120 grit drywall sanding
   screen.  Diagonal and perpendicular motions work well -
   circular motions work best.  With a little patience, 
   strength and willingness to abandon a worn sanding screen 
   for a fresh one, you'll have your wood trim very smooth 
   in pretty short order.  Concentrate mostly on raised broad 
   flat planes, such as window and door casings, and the 
   raised horizontal and vertical boards of paneled doors.
   You might prefer using a random orbital sander for this
   same task.

Submit questions

Exterior restoration painting: 

   rogcad.com/painting/contractors   (Guide for contractors)

   rogcad.com/painting   (Checklist for homeowners)


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